South Texas faith leaders decry presence of anti-immigrant caravan in Eagle Pass

EAGLE PASS — As a group of anti-immigrant protesters traveling in what they described as “God’s Convoy” descended on an unincorporated area near the Eagle Pass over the weekend, the border town’s faith leaders and community activists held their own rally to push back.

While the counterprotest drew fewer TV cameras than the Christian nationalist convoy, the message was loud and clear: imported anti-immigrant sentiment, not migrants, poses the biggest danger along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“No one has the right to hijack Christianity for their own issues,” Laredo's Sister Rosemary Welsh said at Sunday’s rally, organized by the progressive religious group Vote Common Good. “This border situation, what's happening here, it's not Godlike.”

Like many at the rally, Welsh has spent her life tending to the poor and the sick, living out Christian ideals.

“Eagle Pass has suffered the most from [Gov. Greg Abbott’s] actions,” said Pastor Julio Vasquez, who heads a Lutheran congregation in the 30,000-resident city. “The billions that have been spent have not stopped the immigration. How many billions have been spent on this wall that could have been spent on education? On infrastructure? Our colonias are being flooded. We don't have clean water.”

Amerika Garcia Grewal, an Eagle Pass native and community activist, railed against the Abbott’s seizure of Shelby Park and ejection of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from the property. The Republican governor’s move triggered a continuing standoff with the federal government that political observers have described as an election-year publicity stunt.

“We are a warning to people. Why does everyone know where Eagle Pass is? Because we were weak enough to let it happen,” Garcia Grewal said. “If you don't speak up for your values, it can happen to you. And our community is exhausted.”

Jesse F. Fuentes, a businessman and retired educator, said Eagle Pass residents want Abbott to relinquish the park.

“That's a city park. And we want it back,” Fuentes said. “[Politicians] don't fix this crisis because it's the only thing they're running on. I've never been so appalled at a leader as our governor and how he's using our community for political theatre.”

After the speakers, the rally moved from Eagle Pass’ San Juan Plaza to Shelby Park itself. Later that day, Abbott was scheduled to helicopter in along with 13 other GOP governors for a press conference touting Texas’ efforts to turn back migrants.

As the faith leaders and activists marched toward ground zero, they received honks of approval from drivers. They also got jeers.

“Folks will be yelling at you,” Fuentes told the group. “Don't listen to what they say.”

Once the group reached the park entrance, anti-immigrant protesters raised signs and yelled across the street. A swarm of law enforcement officers kept the opposing sides separated.

Members of the anti-immigrant group — bearded men with black rifles along with senior citizens in orthopedic shoes and MAGA hats — screamed obscenities. One elderly man appeared ready to foam at the mouth in rage.

Several Chicano Brown Berets joined the faith leaders. Their homemade flags, made from fluttering sheets, announced “Trump 4 Prison” and “Abbott 4 Treason.”

At least a dozen YouTube “citizen journalists” with self-created press badges and comically elaborate selfie-sticks moved around, documenting the scene. Some, who appeared to hail from Europe, grinned and shrugged at the American-style insanity they were streaming for the folks back home.

Pastor Doug Pagitt of counterprotest organizer Vote Common Good addressed people on both sides of the issue. At one point, he even moved through the MAGA crowd, calmly making his case — a rare move in the nation’s current hyper-partisan era.

“We're here because, well, we care about the border,” Pagitt said. “And since the insurrection, we have a specific focus on Christian nationalism. We saw it happen during the [Jan. 6] insurrection. Right in Senate chamber, those guys put on a prayer — and I totally recognized that when I saw it.”

Pagitt said he hoped the presence of Vote Common Good would turn the media’s attention to those most affected by simmering tensions over the border and immigration — Eagle Pass residents themselves.

“They're suffering. They're exhausted. And they need our help,” he said.

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